Apparently some of the respondents have lived on the coast during one of these things and can give us the benefit of their experiences.
I live in Wilmington North Carolina which had the dubious distinction of being hit by a half dozen major hurricanes in a four year period from July 1996, (Bertha) to September 1999 (Floyd) with Fran mixed in there too in September 1996. We were jokingly called Hurricane Alley and the New England Whalers of the National Hockey League adopted the nickname ‘Hurrrcanes” when they moved to Raleigh around the end of this cycle.
The first thing that we did was find friends with whom we could wait out the stom. The key point was to find friends who lived in houses whose lots were devoid of trees which have the disconcerting habit of coming down during hurricanes and hitting the roof or the one car you couldn’t fit into the garage. We stayed less than a half mile from our house during most of these with one particular family.
We had a good time waiting for the storms, experiencing the storms and mercifully watiching it leave. Our house is 1.25 miles from the intercoastal waterway and 2.4 miles from the actual ocean, when you get past the barrier islands.
The aftermath of the storm is a bitch. The hurricane is a tropical depression and it brings with it hot and very sticky weather and of course, your air condiftioning is out.
There is a log of debris strewn across the front and back yards, stuff like branches, pine cones, the occasional roof tile. We never had more than minimal ($500.00) damage with any storm.
The power comes on in a day or two or three. Our power lines are buried but the main line is above ground and if there is a break anywhere in your grid all of the power is out.
You barbecue, you try to drink whatever beer you have before it gets warm. You see your neighbors cause most folks are not going to work for the next day or two.
The supermarkets open as soon as the power comes back on, they get re-stocked and life goes on.
That being said, none of these storms was forecast over category 2 although Fran turned into a 3 right at the end.
With advance knowledge of Ike coming near us, we would have headed to stay with friends outside of DC. Sometimes you need to be cautious about this stuff.
And if anyone is interested I can tell you what happens when your business floods twice in four yours with damage each time in excess of $2,000.000. HInt—- your insurance goes up.
SRM